M&A
Fiduciary Trust Company International
The global wealth manager and wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton has agreed to acquire registered investment adviser (RIA) Athena Capital Advisors.
Established in 1993 by Lisette Cooper, Athena Capital Advisors is based in Lincoln, Massachusetts, with an additional office in New York.
Following the acquisition, Fiduciary Trust Company International’s assets under management will be approximately $25bn (£19.1bn, €22.5bn).
The deal is expected to close in Franklin Templeton’s second quarter of financial year 2020.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Charter Oak Financial
The financial planning firm has merged with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance subsidiary’s MassMutual Greater Long Island and MassMutual Greater Hudson.
The expanded business will operate as Charter Oak Financial and will be led by managing partners Brendan Naughton and Brad Somma.
The consolidation is part of a strategic plan to extend Charter Oak’s reach.
Charter Oak now includes 375 advisers and a team of more than 100 specialists and staff servicing clients from offices across Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.
The merger also bolsters existing presence in the Chinatowns of Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.
Naughton joined Charter Oak in 2005 as a managing director for the firm’s Stamford office.
Somma was a managing director with Charter Oak from 2008 until 2012, when he was appointed managing partner of MassMutual Greater Long Island.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
WestPoint Financial Group
The Indianapolis-based firm has joined forces with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance subsidiary’s MassMutual Illinois, and MassMutual Chicago.
They will now operate under the name WestPoint Financial Group.
Greg McRoberts, managing partner, will lead the merged firm.
WPFG will now service 200,000 client, $34bn of life insurance policies and $14bn in assets under management with around 500 advisers across Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Savant Capital Management
The wealth management firm and Huber Financial Advisors will merge during the first quarter of 2020.
Huber Financial Advisors will adopt the Savant Capital Management name and branding after the integration, which is expected to finalise by 31 March, 2020.
The owners of Huber Financial Advisors will transition their current equity into Savant and several plan to increase their stake over time.
In addition, several unnamed additional Huber Financial Advisors team members will become Savant owners at closing.
Once combined, Savant will have over 70 employee owners and remain both employee-led and controlled.
In addition to working with clients, Huber founder David Huber will have an advisory role to Savant’s board of directors.
Rob Morrison will be a member of Savant’s executive team and Phil Huber will become Savant’s chief investment officer.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
National Holdings Corporation
The independent brokerage, investment banking and asset management firm has acquired RIA company Winslow, Evans & Crocker.
As a result of this acquisition, National now has 717 registered representatives, and manages in excess of $15bn in assets under management.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Mai Capital Management
The independent RIA has bought investment manager JM Hartwell.
Hartwell’s leadership team will join the senior partnership of MAI.
William Miller will assume the role of managing director, Jordan Press will become regional managing director and William Jones will take on the role of director and research analyst.
The remaining members of Hartwell’s investment team will join MAI as well.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
EP Wealth Advisors
The advice firm has acquired Illinois-based Guidant Wealth Advisors.
Guidant was founded more than 25 years ago by Frank Patzke.
Patzke and the entire Guidant team will assume roles at EP Wealth.
The financial and terms of the deal will not be disclosed.
Blucora
The financial solutions provider has agreed to acquire privately-held RIA firm HK Financial Services (HKFS).
Blucora said HKFS will operate as a third division of the firm, in addition to Avantax Wealth Management and TaxAct.
The acquisition is being structured as a stock purchase with a price of $160m.
It is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approval.
Envestnet
The wealth tech solution provider has agreed to join forces with Dynasty Financial Partners to launch the Advisor Services Exchange (ASX).
It will offer financial advisers using Envestnet’s platforms a set of tools and services to help build and grow their businesses.
The ASX is set to launch later this year.
As part of the partnership, Envestnet will make a minority investment in Dynasty Financial Partners.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Mercer Global Advisors
The RIA firm has acquired Chicago wealth manager CCP.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
CCP serves approximately 100 households with assets under management of approximately $140m.
It is owned by Steve Roberts, who will be joining the Mercer Advisors’ team along with the entire CCP staff.
People moves
BBVA USA
The bank has appointed Jorge Unda as chief investment officer of its asset management units.
In his new role, Unda will be responsible for overseeing the asset management functions of both the bank’s asset management and trust division and BBVA Wealth Solutions, a registered investment adviser affiliate of the bank.
Unda will report to Bruce Hagemann, executive director of BBVA Investment Services.
Most recently, Unda served in the role of BBVA LatAm chief investment officer, based in Mexico City.
Bernstein Private Wealth Management
Kathleen Fisher will retire as head of wealth and investment strategies, effective 27 March 2020.
She joined Bernstein in 2001 as a private client senior portfolio manager. She was elected partner and became head of wealth and investment strategies in 2017.
Fisher will be transitioning her responsibilities to Aaron Bates, senior managing director; Alex Chaloff, head of alternative asset strategies; and Beata Kirr, head of core asset strategies.
Bates will become head of wealth strategies and Alex Chaloff and Beata Kirr will become co-heads of investment strategies.
Prime Capital Investment Advisors
The firm has hired Brian Dillbeck as its first chief financial officer.
Dillbeck was most recently the chief financial officer at Lockpath, a software company based in Overland Park, Kansas.
Tiedemann Advisors
The independent US investment and wealth adviser has named Richard Woo to its impact advisory council.
Woo was most recently at The Russell Family Foundation, where he served as chief executive for 20 years.
Hilltop Securities
The firm has promoted John Muschalek to head of wealth management, overseeing its private client group, independent adviser network, securities lending, and clearing services businesses.
Muschalek has been with the firm for more than 27 years and has served in a variety of leadership roles, most recently as chief administrative officer.
American Century Investments
Wayne Park has joined the global asset management firm as head of personal financial solutions.
Park will oversee the business strategy and execution for American Century’s retail business.
He was previously at T Rowe Price, where he served as head of individual investors and president of both T Rowe Services and T Rowe Advisory Services.
BKD Wealth Advisors
The wealth business has named Steve Toomey as managing partner.
Toomey will succeed Jack Thurman.
He will start his new position effective 1 June 2020, with Thurman’s planned retirement on 31 May 2021.
During his final year, Thurman will focus on developing several client opportunities.
Mercer Advisors
The RIA firm has promoted Laura Combs to managing director with responsibility for Mercer’s offices in the central part of the US.
Combs will also become a member of Mercer Advisors’ senior leadership team.
She has been with Mercer Advisors for over a decade.
Homrich Berg
The independent wealth manager has hired Thomas Carroll as president.
Prior to joining HB, Carroll was most recently the head of division wealth management for SunTrust.
LPL Financial
Retail investment advisory firm has promoted Matt Enyedi to managing director of national sales from executive vice president.
Enyedi began his LPL career in 2003 and became executive vice president in 2015.
BNY Mellon Wealth Management
The bank has named Stacie Kuhlman as midwest regional president based in Chicago.
Kuhlman joins from JP Morgan Private Bank, where she served as a managing director.
It has also named Raymond Janvier as a senior client strategist in Washington, DC.
Janvier will be responsible for acquiring and advising high net worth and family office clients.
He has more than 14 years of experience in financial services and previously served as a private client adviser and senior vice president at Bank of America Private Bank.
Also, Kent Moegerle has joined the firm as regional head of client strategy in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kent has 26 years of experience in financial services and joins from SunTrust, where he was private wealth management division executive.
UBS Financial Services
Daniella Guerra has joined the firm as a financial adviser in its Indianapolis office.
She will be part of Certus Wealth Partners.
Marshall Financial Group
Pennsylvania-based financial, life planning and wealth management firm has named Nicholas Pileggi as an associate financial planner.
He previously worked as a senior investment advisory associate at a unnamed company in Pennsylvania.
